We already know the actor has committed to star in Universal's big budget sci-fi project Horizons (the project formerly known as Oblivion from Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski), but Tom Cruise might get another project off the ground before then. Deadline reports Cruise is negotiating with Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions to star in One Shot, an adaptation of Lee Child's novel of the same name which features the author's recurring character, former military policeman-turned drifter Jack Reacher. Some fans may be scratching their heads at Cruise's potential casting. Find out why below!
The recurring character who appears in fifteen of Child's novels is described in the books as being 6'5" and weighing in at 250 pounds. Cruise certainly isn't the tallest actor in Hollywood (quite the opposite) and while he's physically fit, he certainly doesn't get anywhere near a beefy 250 pounds. Of course, a big name actor taking on a popular book franchise will get butts in the seats, so that's the way the cookie crumbles. Anyway the author is behind the casting all the way saying, "Reacher's size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way." Here's what kind of trouble Reacher gets into as per the book's official synopsis:
In addition, the film will reunite Cruise with Valkyrie writer Christopher McQuarrie who will be directing from his own script (his first directing gig since The Way of the Gun in 2000). If a deal with Cruise comes together quickly, the film will shoot later this year. However, since Horizons is already slated to start production in January of 2012, if One Shot can't come together in time, it will shoot after Cruise finishes the sci-fi flick at Universal. This sounds like it's just a grittier version of something we've seen Cruise do already in the Mission Impossible franchise, but I guess he's been a fan of the series for awhile. Interested?